Evaluation YCN collaboration

My collaboration was with Kirsty Hardingham. Kirsty was an enthusiastic partner from day one and open to which brief we went ahead with.  Fortunately we were both gravitating towards the Heinz Salad Cream brief.  The brief struck us as one that we could have some fun with and also as a ‘campaign’ style brief the outcomes could be both print and/or digital.

Our roles

We settled into definite roles within our partnership quite naturally - My role was Concept development/Project manager where as Kirsty was responsible for designing and producing practical outcomes such as the posters, website and chip cone.

The benefits of collaboration

Kirsty has much stronger Illustrator skills than me so she concentrated on producing a lot of the art work where as I focussed on the After Effects moving image and the Indesign boards.  In this respect we complimented each other well.  We were also able to bounce ideas of each other which strengthened the outcomes.   

Certain tasks were better executed in collaboration such as the photoshoot which we did with Jenny Sneap from Vis Com.  We needed several pairs of hands to get the photographs we needed.   

The disadvantages of collaboration

The only frustration from my point of view was that she did not come to two of the early crits/ workshops which meant the tone of voice of the campaign was initially directed by me.  I was concerned about this as I wanted the brief to be as collaborative as possible.  I also had to address the problem of  managing the situation without creating friction.  

On a positive note though whenever we agreed actions with deadlines she always delivered and during the last week we really pulled together to submit the boards. 

Conclusion

We were able to reach agreement on the design direction and tone of voice early on in the project.  Overall we planned and coordinated the project effectively.  We were both happy with the outcome we submitted a couple of days before the deadline.

Evaluation- Product, Range

My husband, David runs a guitar school and has been asking me for some time to re-brand the school.  Following a conversation with him we were discussed the possibility of a journal for the students.  Also he has started taking the business into primary schools and as a result needs some promotional material suitable for Schools, Head teachers and parents.

The outcome

I have asked several students and parents for feedback about the logo and prospectus and have received some very favourable comments.  The kids think its ‘cool’ and want a t-shirt!  The parents think it is representative of David and the school.

Learning outcomes

This has been challenging in terms of limiting the ‘range’ of what I could achieve within this brief.  Also the whole project has led to us developing the business as well and it has been difficult to keep focussed on the Module dead line.  I have kept reminding myself that this is the foundation and now the work can continue.

I have also challenged my practical skills by applying some book binding techniques.

The other challenge has been trying to produce something special whilst still being able to reproduce the prospectus/journal and leaflets economically.  I have accommodated this by designing products for the brief and then sourcing cheaper short run digital printing for the real products.  Going forward I plan to screen-print the posters to keep costs down over the summer.

Conclusion

Overall the whole project has been positive in terms of contributing to a business that has real meaning to me and also in terms of the learning outcomes. My design direction is becoming more defined as I enjoy Branding and Identity and also the layout skills I have employed.

OUGD203 Evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN LEVEL  05

Module Code   OUGD203

Module Title DESIGN Practice 2

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME Lisa Whitaker BLOG. ADDRESS http://l-whitaker1013.blogspot.com

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

• Indesign software skills – starting to find my way around this software and linking files from photoshop and Illustrator

• Type and layout – My eye for layout is definitely improving after the Design module with Graham.  Thinking about readability, hierarchy and grid layout more effectively.

• Collaboration – getting the right balance between project management and not taking over to much.

2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

• I have re-visted book binding techniques and would have liked more time to extend this.  Limitation with printing/time meant could only try Japanese stab binding, screw posts and perfect binding.

• Improving vectoring skills in Ilustrator has opened up more opportunities for my design outcomes.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

• Extensive research and analysis has enabled me to focus on a ‘real’ product and problem

• Improving attention to type and layout

• Project planning and tenacity has allowed me to develop this brief extensively

• Growing confidence in asking for help from experts eg Book binding at Vernon Street

• I am researching more Innovative Graphic Design which is contributing to stronger design outcomes

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

• Found it difficult Project managing everything we had to do since Easter however this was partly down to me having too much of a break at Easter!

• I have not blogged as much project development as I have been progressing along which created a bottleneck, giving me a problem hitting the deadline.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

• I still need to make time to  put pen to paper more with editorial layouts, logo development and storyboarding.  

• I do make action lists and plan my time in my notebook however I have not documented this on the blog.  I want to find a digital method which can be easily uploaded to Blogger so I get credit for this. 

• I tried to achieve too much on both YCN and Product briefs which meant that I did not execute some of the outcomes as effectively as I could.  

• Think about what is really being asked for as an outcome ie with Product I spent a lot of time making products which in the end were not required at hand in.  maybe could have digitally mocked up more of the products.

6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: 

(please indicate using an ‘x’)  

5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor

1 2 3 4 5

Attendance 4

Punctuality 4

Motivation 5

Commitment 5

Quantity of work produced 5

Quality of work produced 3

Contribution to the group  5

The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

Contacting agencies

I have been holding back from contacting agencies as I had not designed my Creative CV or come up with a portfolio I was happy with.  Yesterday I completely focussed on designing my brand, CV and also created a Cargo collective website.  They are still not perfect however I dont want to leave this any longer as if I do I will end up not having any contact with studios over the summer.


The Cargo Account is:  two strings design

I have also contacted the following studios attaching my CV and linking to the Cargo account.

Michael Freemantle - Head of Design at 10 Associates (Studied at Leeds)

Tim Miller at the Space People (Jane connection)

Paul Kerfoot at Bulletpoint Design ( A friend knows this guy in Bradford)

I plan to contact

Elmwood (Chris Jackson and Rob Skelly) once Fred oks it.

I have also arranged a meeting with a freelance designer called John Polley who lives near me to look at his work (he doesn't have a website!) and get some feedback on mine.

To be continued... 

A reply for The Space People already!

Update

1. I have a meeting with Tim at The Space People on Monday 18th June to visit the studio and discuss possible work experience.

2. I have a meeting with Micael Freemantle at 10 Associates booked for Thursday 21st June to visist studio an dhave a chat about my Design practice.

3.  I did not get a response off Bulletpoint.

Task 5 More Brand me development and Cards

After having a chat with Jane and going over the cards and logo for me I decided to re-visit this with fresh eyes.  The CV I had started to design was beginning to be too complex (above) and I was starting to fall out with the original 2 strings design.


Getting the colour right.

The Shade I originally chose looked too 'faded' and blue when printed out it was not vibrant enough.  Using the Pantone swatches I chose the shade I wanted which was DE 238-3

Jane gave me a couple of idea which was actually revisiting a route I had already gone down - looking at two intersecting bubbles and where they meet is the common ground of 'skills' that bring from my Finance career into my Design career so with this in mind I re-designed the logo as follows:

This is the first layout for the CV.  The Baskerville typeface is not readable on screen so I decided to try a different one.  I have been working with Century Gothic which has simple line and large bowls.  This worked better so I tried applying this to the logo as well.   also experimented with some other Gothic typefaces

Proposed final card:

Update

I chose four different designs for the front of the card as Moo offer up to ten design for free.  

Open publication - Free publishing - More business cards

Despite all my text being in the 'safe' area I do think some of the text come out too near the edge.

Open publication - Free publishing - More business cards

I have had the cards printed at Moo however they have a yellow print mark on every card.  When I contacted Moo they immediately refunded my money and offered to print them again free of charge!

A letterhead

Task 4 Creative CV development

The following Issuu document demonstrates the CV development.  the first being the 'typebased' CV we did in Type with Graeme.  I had initially been using baskerville a a typeface but found this did not work well on digital PDFs from a readability point of view so I switched to Century Gothic.
The last page is the CV I have used in emails to Studios:

Open publication - Free publishing - More cv

There will be no stopping me now ...

And a response at 9.45am the following morning!  Nothing nailed on but a reply and a name none the less( How exciting !)

Ten Agencies/ Studios to contact

Leeds


1.bml-creative.
 Why?  Because and it has a mixed portolio from Branding thought to digital, web and print based solutions.  Would be interesting to understand how they work and how they work with Freelancers.


Huddersfield


2.  Engineroomdesign
Why? Because I like the sound of their team it is local and the design is still fresh.  I also like the varied services they offer.


Loft 2
The Creative Lofts
15 Northumberland Street
Huddersfield
West Yorkshire
UK
HD1 1DT

info@engineroomdesign.com

+44 (0)1484 483087

Darren Evans is the Creative Director (Helen Davies the Operations director left in April)

3 10associates
10 Associates Ltd The Watermill Wheatley Park Mirfield West Yorkshire WF14 8HE

Varied portfolio /lots of experience/ won awards Brand Strategy. Corporate Literature. Web Design. Direct Mail. Packaging Design.


The Company ethos appeals and also the work is cutting edge


Telephone

01484 543 905

Say hello   hello@10associates.co.uk

David Worthington Managing Director


A few words "Take into account that a great business and great achievements involve great risk."


They have photos of when they were children....

Get involved

10 Associates are always on the look-out for fresh talent to be part of their team, so if you’ve been obsessed with all things design since the age of 10 and think that you’d fit in with our family, then drop us a line.

We’re always looking for great designers and inspired account handlers who could bring something to the party. If you’re an exceptional individual who fancies working on some fab accounts, send us some examples of your work (along with a photo of you when you were 10) and we'll get in touch.

Freelance designers
Freelance web designers/developers
Freelance artworkers and copywriters

Please send us some samples of your work, both creative and technical, and we'll drop you a line to say thanks and tell you about what we have planned for 2012.

joinus@10associates.co.uk


Jill Smith creative director


Michael Freemantle- Head of Design It was two years after he first heard about 10 Associates that Michael got a chance to join the team. Today, he heads up design at 10, drawing on a wealth of professional experience coupled with a BA Hons in Visual Communications from Leeds College of Art & Design. In a previous role with Synergy TV, Michael mastered the art of HTML and user interface design – areas that still play a role in his work today.


4. worthingtonbrown
Holmfirth
Upperbridge House 24 Huddersfield Road Holmfirth West Yorkshire HD9 2JS T. +44 (0)1484 688 808 F. +44 (0)1484 688 818 E. nw@worthingtonbrown.co.uk


Neil on 07860 366888


5. fuse8
Leeds fuse8 Leeds: 3370 Century Way, Thorpe Park, Leeds, LS15 8ZB, UK, 
Tel: +44 (0)113 260 4600


6 Ultimate Holding Company
Design services: Sara Nilsson sara@uhc.org.uk
Ultimate Holding Company 2nd Floor Hotspur House 2 Gloucester Street Manchester M1 5QR


7. Creativespark
We’re looking for talented young designers and web developers we can nurture for a week or two. We know first hand how hard it can be to get your foot in the door, so we’re offering some experience in a young, tight-knit agency where you can find out how we work, what to expect when you start your career, where your skills fit in a commercial agency and how we like our brews. If this all sounds very exciting to you, email placements@creativespark.co.uk to apply for a placement and we’ll see what we can do!

Making contacts in the Design world.

A friend of a friend is running his own Labels and packaging business in Bolton after being in the industry for the last 20 years (he studied GD at Leeds Met 20 years ago!)


His clients are from the  textiles/garment sector including Paul Smith, Pretty Green, John lewis, Alan Paine Knitwear, British Millerain.


All the discussions have been via email apart from the last where I had a face to face meeting with him in April.


The initial email was a list of questions:
So in the meantime it would be great if you could answer the following questions to assist (some are slightly odd - it is all about

lateral thinking!): -

1. What does SGN stand for? SARAH,GEORGIA,NIGEL  - Hannah and Esmee were born after I started trading

2. Is this name set in stone? NO ... thought about 'LIBERATED LABELS and PACKAGING' as I felt liberated when I finally left my old company

3. What do you like about the existing design? Nowt much only that its quite formal and serious, however I do feel I want to move to more Funky or Classic

4. Do you want to include 'Labels and Packaging' in the design? Yes

4. Why blue? Is colour important to you? Would you need to be able to print your stationary CMYK or would you like to use a Spot colour? eithers fine

5. Some of your competitors have a 'logo' or symbol, would you like one to

represent your brand or are does SGN represent you? Very much, I wouldnt mind working in a clothes hanger subtley somehow but thats not set in stone

6. Who are your current clients including their industry category? Paul Smith, Alan Paine Knitwear, British Millerain, Pretty Green, John Lewis - textiles/garments

7. Which clients or industries are you aiming to promote to in the future? textile manufacturers, designer brands

8. What do you specifically produce? i.e. Do you design? Does your client

specify the design? Print card or fabric labels? Do you offer bespoke packaging? I do all of the questions you ask.

9 What makes your company good? Personal and 20 years experience

10. If your company was a famous person, who would it be and why? I like to think Malcolm Maclaren/Vivienne Westwoods serious side.(if they have one)

11. If your company had a profession, what would it be and why? Artist or Musician

13. If your company was a place, where would it be and why? Prague - Classical with an arty subculture

14. Do you have a favourite logo and what do you like about it? - No, I'm very open minded.

The design sheets are below:

Open publication - Free publishing - More brand

This development has taken a lot of my time over the last three/four months.  I felt this was worthwhile as potentially Nigel would be in a position to pass on work to me should I work freelance.  Also it has been invaluable working with a Client on a live brief - negotiating and compromising not necessarily taking the design where I wanted it to go.  I have also had to develop my Illustrator skills in the process.  

Nigel has picked a design and is going to print with them.  I will get copies for my portfolio.

I plan to send Nigel some of my cards and a link to my website once it is developed.

Task 3 Samples of work

Based on the exercises, feedback and discussion in the studio workshop: Part 1 - Identify document and evaluate a minimum of 10 examples of professional designer's and/or design studios who have used a range of media and formats to distribute samples of their work. You should aim to select a range of examples using a rage of media. Part 2 - Produce a short (50 word) SWOT analysis of each example in order to analysis its relative merits and effectiveness as a promotional tool or strategy.

Research Sources / Further Information

Refer to previous handouts and your own Design Context / PPD blogs for research suggestions and source material.

Mandatory Requirements / Deliverable

10 examples of professional promotional material (including SWOT analysis) posted to your PPD blog. Samples must represent a breadth of media and approaches and labelled accordingly 1.  We are Build

This format relies on both a high budget and also desirability and longevity of work

Strengths: Strong print based outcome which works well and is appropriate within the Design world 

Weaknesses: Expensive to produce.  Distribution relies on 'being famous'.  

Opportunities:  Excellent way for clients to see tangible strengths of work in print

Threats: Not interactive/digital

2. Generation Press

Strengths: strong print based outcome innovative packaging 'the work' speaks for itself in form of promotion

Weaknesses : Expensive to reproduce

Opportunities:  Tangible example of work.  As loose leaf could add to 'leaflets'

Threats:  How to distribute/  quickly become outdated 

3 We are Young

Strengths:  demonstration of creative processes and digital skills

Weaknesses:  too long 30 seconds would have been enough

Opportunities:  Clients can see potential

Threats:  Not completely representative of work once look through portfolio may 'pigeon hole'

4 Nikolaus Schmidt

Strengths:  Beautiful crafting, high-end with french folds, interesting layouts.

Weaknesses:  Expensive to reproduce

Opportunities: Potential for clients to see a tangible example of finished work.  Can use screw and post to update the book.

Threats:  Easily out of date needs updating regularly

5. Trapped in Suburbia

Strengths: Innovative,fun an interactive

Weaknesses: Expensive to reproduce.

Opportunities:  Demonstrates creativity if potential clients find engaging

Threats:  Throw away, too quirky once tried once lose interest

6. http://www.behance.net/gallery/BITE-SIZE-Self-promo/2397704

Strengths:  Well designed packaging demonstrates crafting skills, creative thinking

Weaknesses:  Includes a chocolate could be quite expensive to reproduce and distribute for a student.

Opportunities: 

  

7. http://www.behance.net/gallery/RESUME-2011/1122677

Strengths:  Colours and designs visually interesting

Weaknesses: The infographics should simplify info but some look quite complex and put the reader off

Opportunities: 

8

http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/25-intelligent-resume-ideas

Strengths:  creative/ innovative idea - bribes

Weaknesses:  expensive to do several times to different studios

Opportunities:  Will demonstrate crafting and creative thinking abilities

Threats:   A lot of financial layout 

9.

10. Snask on Vimeo

Strengths:  Creative visual thinking 
weaknesses:  Maybe could be shorter
Opportunities

11. Elias Freiberger  Moving image of a Designers Logo

Strengths:  Demonstrates digital design abilities
Weaknesses:  should be thirty seconds too long to get to 'final logo'
Opportunities:  easy to distribute
threats:  may pigeon hole if skills are beyond digital.